By
Riya Gupta, Communications Officer, BISA
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Perched at 800 meters above sea level, the quiet village of Nawalapitiya lies tucked within the rippling hills of Sri Lanka’s Kandy district. This is tea country – lush, green, and serene. But behind the misty landscape is a community learning to survive in the crosshairs of a shifting climate. Among them is Ms. N.S. Maliga Cooray, a tea farmer who also cultivates passionfruit on her smallholding. On a bright afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet her and understand how farmers like her are navigating climate uncertainties.
Cooray is not just a farmer – she’s a decision-maker in a region where most women are not. She determines what to sow, when to plant, and how to harvest. That autonomy gives her a unique bargaining power while standing on the complex intersection of climate change and gender.
In the past five years, she has watched the climate transform in ways that threaten her livelihood. “It never used to be like this,” she said. Rainfall, once predictable and manageable, now arrives in intense bursts. Last June and July brought unprecedented downpours. Her passionfruit crop was entirely wiped out. Half her tea harvest was lost. The rains triggered pest infestations, fungal disease, and rampant wild grass growth – forcing her to spend more on labour just to maintain her fields.
Ironically, while rainfall has increased, water scarcity persists. Torrential rain runs off quickly, taking topsoil and fertilizers with it. What remains is erosion, degraded land, and polluted water sources. “We get rain, but we don’t get to keep the water,” she explained. The runoff not only weakens crops but also contaminates drinking water, leading to a rise in waterborne diseases in her area. Farmers here need more than rainfall – they need the means to harvest and manage it.
Yet Cooray is adapting. With support from an agricultural extension officer, she has adopted high-yielding varieties – plants more likely to survive erratic weather. She’s invested in drip irrigation for her tea, switched to organic fertilizers, and built stone bunds and drains to slow the runoff. These changes reflect a quiet revolution – climate adaptation from the ground up.
Still, she faces barriers that technology alone cannot overcome. Like many women across South Asia, Cooray carries the ‘triple burden’: she farms, runs a household, and raises three children. These responsibilities limit her access to markets and her ability to scale her efforts. “Even with better yields, I can’t go far to sell,” she said. “Transport costs are too high, and I can’t leave the kids.” Her words, though simple, reflect a deeply rooted challenge: without structural support, women’s economic potential is often stifled by roles they are expected to juggle alone.
Cooray isn’t giving up. She’s exploring crop diversification and is willing to pay a premium – up to 10% more – for seeds that offer a better chance of survival. But her finances are thinly stretched. “My first priority is my children’s education,” she said. For her, farming is not just about income – it’s about security, dignity, and a future for her family.
Her story is both a mirror and a message. It mirrors the lived reality of countless women farmers battling not just climate change, but structural inequalities. And it sends a message – that real adaptation isn’t just about surviving the weather. It’s about creating systems that allow farmers like Cooray to thrive, not just cope.
This is where strategic, science-backed initiatives like ACASA (Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture)come in. By generating and sharing localized climate intelligence, the Atlas empowers national and sub-national governments with the information needed to support communities like Nawalapitiya. Its mission is simple but profound: to improve the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder farmers through better planning, targeted interventions, and inclusive policy design.
Cooray’s journey reminds us that resilience is already taking root. The challenge – and opportunity – is to help it grow.